It’s been a rough stretch for Chicago sports fans eagerly awaiting the return of Opening Day. The Blackhawks and Bulls are suffering blowout losses at the end of their seasons and the Winter Olympics have been a nice little distraction. I’ll admit I haven’t paid much attention to Shaun White’s career. He got a lot of praise as a teenager at the X Games and Olympics back in the day. Got ROBBED in Sochi. Got over it. Got a hair cut. Got back on the board. Then in November 2017, he did this:
OUCH. He was airlifted from the half-pipe to the hospital bed. Usually that would put a damper on one’s Olympic dreams…before even qualifying for PyeongChang. But then, in January, he pulled a perfect score. 100. He was 100% going to the goddamn 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS.
Imagine trying out a new trick towards the end of your career to try and keep up with boarders over a decade younger than you, only to smash your head on the pipe and get carted off to go have a doctor sew your face back together with 67 stitches. Now imagine having the GUTS to even think about trying it again. Now imagine actually trying it again. Now imagine trying it two times in a row. Now imagine landing both of them, back to back, on your last Olympic run where you were down by 1 point. The. Man. Is. A. Legend.
Here is Shaun White’s GOLD run from last night’s half-pipe competition.
